


I need to know

by rogogon, Sourlinski



Series: Fanfics in English [11]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Chess, Chess Metaphors, Loft fic, M/M, Spoilers, season 3b
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-24
Updated: 2014-03-24
Packaged: 2018-01-16 20:46:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1361197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rogogon/pseuds/rogogon, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sourlinski/pseuds/Sourlinski
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I need to know.”</p><p>Derek raised eyebrows as he heard Stiles murmuring softly and looked at him; Stiles brushed his hand through his already messed hair and tried to avoid his eyes. </p><p>“What’s that?” Derek asked gently. When he thought about it, he couldn’t remember ever talking to anyone but Cora in such a soft and tender tone. Stiles was his only exception.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I need to know

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [I need to know](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1350538) by [rogogon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rogogon/pseuds/rogogon). 



> This is @rogogon's very first Sterek fanfiction (heck, very first in Teen Wolf fandom!), so be gentle;)
> 
> NOT SPOILER FREE, this is her vision of season 3b finale. We really wanted to publish it before the finale and hey, we made it! 
> 
> Title and a line in the beginning of the fic come from Kris Allen's song I Need To Know. Listening to it highly recommended :)

_Is there clarity in this insanity?_

 

Concentrated, he stared at the chessboard laying on the shabby oak table. Faint rays of the rising sun creeped through covered with dust window and filled the empty loft with soft pink light. He didn’t even notice that he had spent all night examining the chessboard, trying to understand the meaning hidden behind this strange configuration of pawns on the wooden table. He raised the rook marked as ‘Deaton’ only to put it away on its previous place and take another one to look closely at the black king that had his own name on it. He sighed with irritation and put the king on the black square. 

Derek closed his eyes and leaned his hands on both sides of the chessboard. He shook his head. He hated to admit it but it seemed like Peter was right again; it was pointless to search for the logic in nogitsune’s actions. But Derek Hale didn’t think so. Chess equals Stiles, it’s his game and the way pawns were marked with his friends' names were his life too. Life that was in danger, so sorry Peter, but there had to be done everything to save him –even if it meant staring at chessboard through all night waiting for the epiphany.

Even though it all happened the night before yesterday and Stiles was finally safe, Derek was still staring at the damn chessboard and had a weird feeling that the places of the pawns had some deeper meaning than a simple trick of the enemy. 

At some point he heard a sound of the elevator moving up. He narrowed his eyes; he didn’t expect anyone, and especially not that early in the morning. An enemy? A friend? It didn’t really matter anyway. Muscles in his body tensed unconsciously ready to fight, an instinct that has saved his live so many times before.

Heavy, metal door opened and Derek’s muscles relaxed immediately when he saw Stiles entering the loft. Pale, skinny, still exhausted from the events from the last couple of weeks, fighting for his own life against the nogitsune trying to take control of his body. Dark rings around his eyes clearly showed that he didn’t sleep that night, just like Derek. 

Stiles stopped at the threshold. They looked at each other but neither of them said anything. It was hard to say anything when they hadn’t talked in months. The last time they saw each other was right here, at the loft and the nogitsune in Stiles wanted to kill them all. 

After something like that, it was hard to say anything at all.

“I need to know.”

Derek raised eyebrows as he heard Stiles murmuring softly and looked at him; Stiles brushed his hand through his already messed hair and tried to avoid his eyes. 

“What’s that?” Derek asked gently. When he thought about it, he couldn’t remember ever talking to anyone but Cora in such a soft and tender tone. Stiles was his only exception. 

“I-“- Stiles pushed his hands into the pockets of his, jeans only to take them out only a second later and put them on cool doorframe. He shifted nervously from foot to foot. Even extremely exhausted, his hyperactivity took control. “I just wanted… “

Derek waited patiently. He didn’t want to urge him because he was aware that it wouldn’t help at all. He watched him carefully when Stiles was tossing and turning in the doorway, trying to put everything he wanted to say into words. In the end he sat down on the stairs, his leg fidgeting and his hands making even more mess on his head. He was still quiet though.

Hale frowned and turned back from him, moving to the opposite side of the room. He came back to the table and looked at the chessboard one more time. Thousands of thoughts were running through his head.

“What does it mean?”

Stiles looked up and with slightly parted mouth looked at the black-haired man, who looked like he was shocked by the question himself.

He got up and hesitantly approached Derek, who was looking at the pawns. “What- Uhm, what do you mean?”

Young man hesitantly pointed out the dark king with his own name on it. “All of this. The king, my name.“ He looked up from the table and looked into honey eyes of dark haired man. “I’ve been thinking about it for a week already. What does it mean, Stiles?”

Stiles was like struck dumb looking into Derek’s green eyes, his stare as always intense and daunting, but today there was something more about them; he seemed hopeless and tired. Childlike vulnerability. 

It was the first time that Stiles saw him without any protective barrier. The walls that he built around himself were gone just like that, in the blink of an eye. In one second, in the intense look of piercing green eyes. In one, simple question. 

Stiles absentmindedly ruffled his already messy hair, making them look even more tousled. He scratched his neck, put his hands again on the hips and took a deep breath. He tried to look calm but nervous ticks of a hyperactive teenager who cannot stay calm showed how nervous he really was. 

“I thought that it was pretty obvious.” He said looking at his worn-out sneakers, still avoiding Derek’s eyes.

“I don’t-”

“Do you play chess?” Stiles interrupted him and moved his head up to look at Derek. In his green eyes he saw surprise and confusion that were almost perfectly hidden under his usual confidence. Derek nodded. “So you should know what the role of king is.” Stiles pursed his lips but sighed heavily when Derek seemed to not get it. He breathed heavily and put his hands on his hips, shaking his head in exasperation. “And I thought you were the clever one.” Derek’s ominous stare and eyebrows raised in warning were clear suggestion for Stiles to go back to the topic of chess. He raised his hands in a defensive gesture. “Geez, don’t be such a sourwolf.” Stiles licked his slightly dry lips and looked at the chessboard. He pointed at the black king with the name ‘Derek’ on it. “In the game all the pawns are trying to protect the king.” he pointed at the few pawns around the black figure “I placed it that way and hoped that they would understand. And that they would protect you” He looked at Derek, seeking any reaction. “The king is always somewhere in the back and one would say he means nothing in the game”. He took a deep breath and the air rushed into his mouth with a quiet whistle “But actually he is the most important figure in the whole game.“ He shook his head like he himself couldn’t believe what he was saying. “You are the king, Derek.” He closed his eyes and his right leg twitched nervously. He hated being so exposed. “You are the king… because you're the most important.”

Derek was completely quiet, like he was trying to understand what he just heard. Instinctively, almost mechanically, he made a small step toward Stiles, his arms loose along his body.

He shook his head like he couldn’t believe it. “Are you saying that-“

Stiles nodded and finally raised his head just to see Derek’s eyes very close to him, way closer that he expected them to be. He took a step backwards and Derek took a step forward in the very same second. 

“I was suggesting that you don’t mean a thing, but-“ He took a few more steps backwards until his back met a cold wall. He felt goosebumps all over his body, but he wasn’t sure if it really was the cold of the wall that caused this. Derek was standing right in front of him and he was way too close. Stiles blinked and felt he was getting out of breath. “But it’s not true. You’re the most important one.” He repeated. “And I need to know if-“ He closed his eyes, trying to focus. “If you… if you too.” He went quiet after a not particularly articulate speech and opened his eyes to check Derek’s reaction to this. 

He couldn’t read his poker face, so he had no idea how strong feelings were fighting their way through in his mind. Derek spoke after a while, when he was absolutely sure that his voice won’t let him down. It couldn’t be that shaky, not this time. 

“When you went missing for the very first time, I was looking everywhere for you. For two days. The worst forty-eight fucking hours in my whole life. I thought something really bad happened. The worst.” He put his hand on Stiles’ neck, feeling teenager’s body going tense and then loose again. “And when you met us here, I was ready to kill Argent if he ever tried to shoot you” The hand softly brushed along the collarbone and then the arm just to stop at Stiles’ hand, intertwining their fingers together. He heard his heart beating stronger than ever and then heard his own heart easily adjusting to the new rhythm. “But I’m glad I could help anyway.” Stiles thought he saw a smile flashing across Derek’s face, but he might have been just seeing things. “I’m glad I was the one to save you.”

Although the memories of the last two days were a complete blur, there was a one thing he remembered perfectly. 

Derek was the one who saved his life. 

“I’m glad it was you.” He mumbled, feeling Derek’s hand playing with a soft fabric of his t-shirt and then sliding under it and caressing his hips and a ribcage. He closed his eyes and felt his mouth went dry. “But if you go on doing like this, you can also be the death of me.”

Derek’s hot breath brushed through Stiles’ pale skin. Warm, soft lips were just inches from his jaw and Stiles heard low, throaty laugh, before a yearning kiss took his breath away. 

“I think I’ll take the risk.”


End file.
